Orchids from a quaking bog in Erie County, PA

[kentuckiense]

Today I (and two others) explored three bogs in Erie County, PA. At our first bog of the day we saw Cypripedium reginae leaves (my first!). However, the real prize of this bog, Spiranthes romanzoffiana was nowhere to be found.

The second bog was a quaking bog, essentially a shallow pond covered by a layer of sphagnum and plant debris. I could jump up and down on it and watch it undulate. Pretty cool (until you fall through, I suppose)!

I came to this bog to see Platanthera blephariglottis var. blephariglottis:

This bog also has large numbers of Calopogon tuberosus, Pogonia ophioglossoides, and Arethusa bulbosa, albeit at much earlier times in the year. In fact, it was literally impossible to take a step without stepping on a P. ophioglossoides leaf. Apparently they put on quite a show in June and July.

Much to my great surprise, there were two pristine (and extremely late blooming) individuals of C. tuberosus and P. ophioglossoides:

Both plants were within feet of each other. Quite strange.

And thus ends my 18 hour day. My legs are still caked with mud up to the knees, so I better go shower now.

 

[JeanLux]

Very nice: the flowers and the picts.!!! Jean

 

[Ross]

Great pictures! :clap:
Julie and I also just saw Calopogon tuberosus this week when we went on a bog walk at a local park here in northern Minnesota. It was just finishing its last bloom.

 

[Corbin]

Thanks for the pics. It let us go along without the mud.:rollhappy:

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Very cool. I miss the quaking bogs of the NE states...heck I haven't been in one for over a decade now. I didn't realize that S. romanzoffiana grew in bogs - I always thought it preferring sunny fields. Thanks for the great shots!

 

[kentuckiense]

I didn't realize that S. romanzoffiana grew in bogs - I always thought it preferring sunny fields.

To correct myself, the first "bog" we were in, that historically had romanzoffiana, was actually a fen.

 

[SlipperFan]

Interesting little flowers. I wonder how often they are overlooked as being orchids.

 

[NYEric]

Thanx for posting.

 

[Ron-NY]

very nice! thanks for sharing these!

 

[Heather]

To correct myself, the first "bog" we were in, that historically had romanzoffiana, was actually a fen.

Geez, man, get it right! oke:

 

[Greenpaph]

Great shots, Zach!

Thanks for the natural settings!
:clap::clap:

 

[NYEric]

Geez, man, get it right! oke:

Damn her! Now I'm actually going to have to look 'fen' and 'bog' up!

 

[TADD]

Wow that is nice. I have yet to venture out into the bogs in our area... I am a bit afraid of gators... I do have a few calopogons in my small bog garden and a couple of pogonias, a liatris also...

 

[NYEric]

Oh come on now!

 

[cnycharles]

:wink: so what are the definitions for bog and fen?

nice pictures, thanks for sharing

 

[SlipperFan]

From dictionary.com:

bog:
–noun
1. wet, spongy ground with soil composed mainly of decayed vegetable matter.

fen:
–noun
1. low land covered wholly or partially with water; boggy land; a marsh.

 

[cnycharles]

From dictionary.com:
fen:
–noun
1. low land covered wholly or partially with water; boggy land; a marsh.

hmmm, if a fen consists of boggy land, does a bog consist of fenny land?
thanks for the info; I was actually poking fun because there are tons of definitions for bogs and fens that are confusing and contradictory. some of the bogs so-called in upstate ny are actually poor fens. so, can be confusing. remsen bog north of here is actually a fen but nobody is going to change the name

 

[SlipperFan]

hmmm, if a fen consists of boggy land, does a bog consist of fenny land?
thanks for the info; I was actually poking fun because there are tons of definitions for bogs and fens that are confusing and contradictory. some of the bogs so-called in upstate ny are actually poor fens. so, can be confusing. remsen bog north of here is actually a fen but nobody is going to change the name

I agree. That's why I posted those definitions because they really don't clear up anything!

 

[cnycharles]

oh, okay; gotcha

at least in this neck of the woods, a fen is usually a wet area that does have some sort of drainage and is usually somewhat neutral to alkaline. a bog i've been told usually doesn't have drainage or it's source water is mainly from runoff (not always the case) and usually they are acidic.

now what can be confusing is you can have fens that have large trees (often hemlock) that will grow in them, and around the top of their roots it will be acidic so that you will have sort of boggy plants or otherwise acidic/near neutral loving plants. right next to them in the wet areas will be alkaline loving plants. there are true bogs up in the adirondacks but most of the rest of the state (except for possibly long island) will have poor fens with low nutrients and organic matter

 

[NYEric]

Eureka!